Haiti

Categories: Geography | Travel | Countries

  • The Caribbean nation of Haiti is located on the island of Hispaniola. Haiti shares a land border with the Dominican Republic, the only other nation on Hispaniola.

  • Fast Facts:

    1. Capital: Port-au-Prince
    2. Government: Presidential Republic
    3. Population: 8,706,497 2007 estimate
    4. Currency: Gourde (HTG)
    5. Official Language: French | Haitian Creole
    6. Voodoo is practiced on Haiti

  • Geography

    Haiti occupies the western portion of Hispaniola, and lies only 43 miles across the Windward Passage from the island nation of Cuba. The nation's land mass curves around the Golfe de la Gonave, a large gulf which has the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince along its shores.

  • Brief History

    Hispaniola, like other islands in the Caribbean, was occupied by Amerindians prior to the arrival of the Europeans. The French began settling the area in the 17th century and, helped by the importation of hundreds of thousands of African slaves, Haiti quickly became France's richest New World colony through the export of sugar, coffee, and indigo. In 1797, former slave Toussaint Louverture led a rebellion that helped secure Haiti's independence. The United States occupied the island from 1915 to 1934.

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